Entrepreneurial ambition is gaining significant momentum across college campuses in India. A recent survey conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi, indicates that 43 in 100 Indian students aspire to start a business, similar to the global average of 23 per cent. Currently, more than one in five Indian college-goers (22 per cent) have already started a business, a figure that is close to the global average of 23 per cent.
These findings were published in a report titled ‘How Do We Make Student Entrepreneurs’. Cited by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the government nodal agency, the comprehensive study analyzed responses from 25,783 students across more than 1,200 higher education institutions. The research spans 34 states and Union territories and was carried out between September and December 2025. It was organized in partnership with REVA University, Bengaluru, and GUESSS India, the official Indian chapter of the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey.
Among the students who successfully start a business, the survey noted that 35.5 per cent already have regular sales.
Changing Career Trajectories After College
The data illustrates that more students now wish to start a business right after college. The percentage of students willing to run their own business immediately after completing their studies witnessed a steady rise, climbing from 14 per cent in the 2023 survey to 16.2 per cent in 2025.
Conversely, traditional employment pathways are seeing a decline. The report observed:
“Over the same period, the share who want a government job right after studies fell from 12.7 per cent to 10.1 per cent, and the share who want a job in a large company fell from 31.3 per cent to 27.4 per cent. India’s student founders are also quick to act and quick to try again. Thirty-one per cent of student businesses with regular sales were founded in 2025 alone,” it said.
Resilience and Sector Preferences
Puran Singh, Associate Professor at the School of Management, IIT Mandi, and Country Delegate for GUESSS India, spearheaded the survey. According to Singh, the ecosystem displays remarkable resilience, with 41 per cent of India’s student founders having already closed an earlier business and started again, while 42 per cent concurrently ran two or more businesses.
“India’s students are as ambitious as any in the world, and those who start are building real businesses that already hire people. Courses, dedicated programmes and campus incubators are clearly working. The opportunity now is to put more founders in students’ lives and help them take a real first step early. Then we count how many students move from ambition to action, not just how many talk about creating a startup,” Singh added.
When evaluating industry choices, IT, AI and digital represent the most popular plans among student founders. However, practical implementation reveals a gap, as only one in 10 functional student businesses is digital.
Additionally, the survey highlighted the powerful role of networking. Students who have founders within their personal circle—such as relatives, friends, classmates and teachers—are three times more likely to start a venture.
